


Sensory Distractions

by Kalandan



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Anchorage Shatterdome, Gen, Jaeger Academy, Kodiak Island Facilities, PPDC Protocol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 08:09:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3480758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalandan/pseuds/Kalandan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The PPDC has rules of conduct. This is one of the stories as to why they needed to put some of these into writing.  Caitlin Lightcap and Sergio  star in this installment, while figuring out how the drift works.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kodiak Cranium

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cherno Alpha (Pt 1)](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/101252) by Shmoo92. 
  * Inspired by [Aurora Borealis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1909806) by [Jocelyn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jocelyn/pseuds/Jocelyn). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caitlin Lightcap puts her nose to the grindstone to solve the latest set of issues at the Jaeger Academy.  
> She will forge ahead for science, while the rest of Kodiak Island seems all too happy to throw a new problems in front of her. The cadets are having problems and Sergio might have the answer that Caitlin has been looking for.

“They’re out of alignment”

“What?! again?!” Caitlin was starting to worry that there was something wrong with the equipment. It had been nothing but problems with the drift simulator this week. She grabbed the mic to the simulator, “You’re chasing the RABIT, Right hemisphere, Re Align now."

In the sim room Tanisha shook her head, and Caleb did too, just barely out of sync now, and fell back into the virtual problem at hand. Caitlin shook her head, pondering what might send this team, one of the most serious and in tune teams, to fall out of alignment twice in one session. They usually managed to sync up in the mid to high nineties without any incident or drop in concentration, but this week had seemed to be a struggle for them along with the Tunaris, and and Shindos.  Maybe they were working the Rangers too hard. Maybe there was a problem with the rigs.  She would schedule a full diagnostic of the equipment when they were done with this last set of sims.

 

Caitlin Lightcap was frustrated with the recent rash of failed and compromised drifts. The sims are running similar parameters to before, and the same teams haven’t had this much trouble since their first week of drifting.  She expected this from the cadets in training, but the Ranger teams? No. She did the next best thing she could think of to try and solve the problem, she shut the lab down for 2 days and tried not to thing about it at all.

 

Just as she was getting the last of her notes to take with her the new tech, Joyce, walked by, "Don't work too hard Doctor."

"Thanks, Joyce, enjoy the time off, who knows when you'll get this chance again."  And as she took one last look over the lab before locking up she had a passing thought of her grandmother’s garden in the spring. Random, sure, but the brain works in strange ways.  She grabbed her keys and followed Joyce out and locked up behind herself.

Hmmm, strange that a 20 year old memory  just popped to the surface?  It wasn’t Joyce, that reminded her of it, or the lab, she spent almost every day there.  Maybe it was Joyce that had triggered the thought, but how? The tech looked nothing like her grandmother, or anyone in her family for that matter.Oh well. Best not to ponder this too long or Sergio will wonder what happened to me.

 

In 2016 the world was fighting back against the Kaiju, Jaegers were turning the tide from sure annihilation to a battle in a war that can be fought and won. And yet for Caitlin it is a daily battle with this new technology she helped to pioneer to figure out how the human brain made any of this possible.

 

Sitting down in the restaurant table with Sergio, Caitlin was still wondering why the week’s sim tests had gone so wrong.

"Stop that" Sergio said to her.

"Stop what?" Caitlin replied, giving her best innocent and ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’ look.

"You’re thinking about work.  And its distracting you from the here and now. If you must ponder over something, ponder over what your meal selection will be, then you can tell me all about it. I probably won’t understand half but then again I might, I’ve been in your head." Sergio states with a mischievous wink.

Deep sigh, Caitlin picks up her menu.  The waiter walks by with a plate for the next table over. And suddenly she gets it. She slaps down her menu and looks across the table, “Sergio, tell me what you’re thinking right now.” She looks at him intently, waiting for his response.

He raises his eyebrow with a look of confusion, but knows better than to question the genius scientist when she gets this way. “Umm, was thinking what to eat, and then was thinking that Paella might be a good choice, it smells good. Why? Does it matter?” Still looking a little perplexed and quizzical he looks to Caitlin for her response.

"Ah Ha! That is it! Why did it take me this long to figure it out? Probably because its been over a year working in the labs at Kodiak, but then again when we started we were too busy surviving to do more than keep ourselves clean and fed. The team has been together for a while and the barest of supplies been available…" She trails off into a mumble about whatever it is she has just thought of.

"Excuse me, but what are you going on about now Cait?"

She turns and looks at him again, broken from her musings, “Huh? Oh you’ve figured out why our tests and sims have been failing this week.”

"I have? Enlighten me please."

"Smell" is all she says.

"You’ll need to elaborate a little more than that." Sergio has now put his menu down altogether and is looking across the table at Cait like she is a professor and he the student sitting in the front row. Attention undivided and focused.

"Your sense of smell is a key factor that we’ve been ignoring in the drift interface.  All the lab techs and I, being extra familiar with how the brain works and functions, have created a clean environment for the simulator and adjacent lab spaces.  But we recently hired a new girl from the Academy that didn’t make the cut, and she wants to learn more and be helpful but without knowing it she has contaminated the space."  Sergio interjects briefly with "She can’t smell that bad!" Cait continues, "No, on the contrary she smells of gardenias, because she wears perfume."

"So, you wear perfume on occasion too. Its not a crime." Caitlin holds her finger up to pause Sergio in that thought "Ah ha, no its not a crime, but the sense of smell plays a large role in emotions and memory. Which in turn has a profound effect on drifting!"

The light that spread across Cait’s face now was dawning on Sergio’s face. “You have to let her know…”

"AH, but not just her. This is bigger than just one lab in one place.  What if this happens after they open the other Shatterdomes? LA, Osaka, Anchorage, Sydney, they all have to know."  She bites her lower lip and frets a little.

"Just make it a SOP, Cait." Sergio shrugs and picks up his menu again.  She stares at him until he puts the menu down again. "What?"

"That, my lovely Sergio, is brilliant! Why didn't I think of it before, we have to write everything down, otherwise how will anyone know?!" She quickly picks up her phone and is texting furiously.  Sergio goes back to his menu and asks rather lamely, "Who you messaging now?"

Cait looks up at him briefly, and back to her phone before replying. "Oh, Pentecost. He's the one to get the ball rolling."


	2. Protocol and Regulations

**PPDC Protocol Handbook Chapter 3**

**Drift Technologies and Related Facilities**

**3.20-1** All PPDC personnel working in any Ranger Deployment areas, such as but not limited to the following:

Drive Suit Room, Simulators, Conn Pod, or related areas are issued this _mandatory_ protocol while on duty.

While on duty, or immediately before starting a shift; no scented soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body or hand creams, hair products, deodorants, laundry detergents, or fabric softeners are to be used or worn when in direct contact with Rangers in a Simulator or a Conn Pod. Any violation of this protocol will result in immediate removal from duty, and warnings placed on file for monitoring of future violations.

Please note this is for the safety of all PPDC personnel and especially for the psychological health of all that work in the drift. Please follow this procedure and use all PPDC issued cleansers, issued uniform and personal hygiene items to avoid problems.

**3.20-2** Sections of the preceding protocol are also in effect as they pertain to or are related to Cadets in all areas listed.

**3.20-3** This effects all scientists, engineers, psychologist, doctors, officers, technicians and any other PPDC personnel assigned to work in the above areas. These regulations were studied and found to be necessary by the staff at Kodiak Island Academy.

**3.21-1** Maintenance of equipment and staging areas is to be regularly checked and in compliance with the following standards...

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank Jocelyn for letting me borrow the OCs Tanisha Davis and Caleb Mitchell. Please read the series Generation K, its amazing and I can't say enough good things about it. Please leave feedback, helpful critique and additional ideas always welcome.


End file.
